Shillong, Aug 10: The government wanted the Harijan Panchayat Committee (HPC) to convey its decision within 15 days on relocation of 342 families from Them Iew Mawlong.
The decision was made at a meeting chaired by the deputy chief minister in-charge home Prestone Tynsong in presence of deputy chief minister in-charge urban affairs Sniawbhalang Dhar with the delegation of the HPC and Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Mangament Committee (DSGMC) here.
Speaking to repprtere, Dhar said, “We have agreed to give them 15 days’ time to make a final decision and communicate the same to the state government,” Dhar said.
Dhar informed that the HPC has sought 15 days’ time as they wanted to discuss a few issues and to take everyone on board. “They (HPC) will accordingly communicate to the government whether it is a positive or negative decision but we are hopeful that it should be a positive decision. We want them to say yes or no on the proposal of relocation),” he said.
The deputy chief minister said the delegation was quite happy with the government’s blueprint.
The government had come up with a blueprint after rejecting the April 25, 2022-proposal of the HPC that 200 square meters of land be provided to each of the 342 families within the European ward besides bearing the cost of construction of their homes.
On August 31, 2022, the state government had announced its decision to construct housing flats at the 2.5 acres of land belonging to the SMB for relocation of the 342 families.
When asked, Dhar said, “Almost all issues have been discussed and are in the right direction. However, the HPC needs to discuss with their higher organization so we have given them 15 days’ time”.
“No more meetings beyond 15 days. We will finalise everything within 15 days.”
The deputy chief minister also assured that the government will not entertain organizations from outside the state. “The discussion is purely between the government and the HPC, there will be no listening to outsiders…” he said.
Earlier, DSGMC general secretary Jagdeep Singh said, “We had a long discussion on the relocation issue of Punjabi lane. Today again, we had a fruitful meeting and still certain issues are yet to be addressed which for that we sought 15 days time.”
“After 15 days, we will convey the final decision and then only things will be finalised,” he said.
